Kanan's expression remained steady, his voice a calm counterpoint to the captain's shock.
"I'm in no rush to head for the capital," he reiterated, his gaze unwavering.
"My question is: How are you managing the hemogoblin?"
A wave of crushing dread washed over the captain.
Just from Kanan's words, he knew the devastating truth of what a hemogoblin truly was.
The sheer inadequacy of his own command pressed down on him, a heavy weight of incompetence. He struggled to find the words, his mind racing through impossible scenarios.
He knew it would take more than twenty Royal Squadron soldiers to even contend with an average-sized maledict manifestation.
And now, a chilling new fear coiled in his gut: how much had this hemogoblin grown, sustained by the sheer scale of this calamity?
Seeing the naked horror in the captain's face, Kanan decided to take action. He needed to make it clear they had options, even with their limited resources.
"Captain, how long ago were your riders sent to the Capital?" he inquired, patiently waiting for the opening to present his proposal.
"It's been a day, son. Our fastest rider will be there by tomorrow afternoon," the captain choked out, battling his distraught state.
He forced himself to gather what remained of his strength, determined to lead with whatever was available; even if it meant relying on this unexpected aspirant.
"You're a Chancery Guard from Enmaat; have you encountered a hemogoblin before?" The captain's eyes, though heavy with fatigue, snapped up, a desperate flicker of hope igniting within them.
"Dealing with maledicts was a day-to-day part of my responsibilities in Enmaat," Kanan admitted, a subtle hint of humility in his tone, "but even I'm not confident enough to fight one on my own. Especially if the scale and size of the Hemogoblin is above average."
He spoke with professional caution, yet deep down, a calculated thought lingered: this could be a formidable opportunity to test his limits, should the chance arise.
Still, as a Legal Apprentice, he wouldn't dare cross a line that might strain the delicate diplomacy between Azarette and Enmaat.
"You're an aspirant, aren't you, son? With your understanding of hemogoblins, it's clear you could be invaluable. Would it be fair to ask for your help? Such assistance would surely prove fruitful for your aspirant status; I can personally recommend you to a Commander of the Royal Squadron here in Azarette."
The captain knew reinforcements from the capital were still two, maybe three days away. This, he realized, was their only chance to act.
The captain looked up at him with eyes brimming with existential desperation and expectation. A pang of self-disgust twisted in his gut at his own incompetence, but he knew this calamity was far beyond him.
He had to seize any lifeline available.
Opportunity, he often mused, was best when it presented itself naturally. This time, however, the captain had to forge that opportunity himself, for the people of Aurea Reach.
Kanan's eyes softened, a faint, almost imperceptible ghost of a smirk touching his lips… a fleeting thought he instantly suppressed.
Given the grim reality they both faced, it would be utterly rude to treat this as his personal training ground. Yet, an undeniable thrill surged within him.
He was keenly excited by the potential for his journey to prove fruitful, beginning right here at the edge of Azarette.
"I would be honored to help out in times of such dire need, Captain. Thank you for entrusting me with such a high-stakes responsibility."
He pressed his right hand to his chest and bowed his head, a formal gesture of respect to the beleaguered officer before him.
I really like where this is going, he thought to himself, a private grin almost breaking through his composed facade.
He couldn't wait to burst out laughing later, once he'd managed to subdue the hemogoblin. If he had to defeat it on his own, he would.
It would be the perfect way to show those arrogant Defenders of the Ash bastards just what he was truly capable of.
"All right then, tell us more about the hemogoblin. We need to forward a temporary emergency strategy to the capital without delay."
The captain urged him on, pulling out a map of Aurea Reach and scattering markers and pins across its surface with renewed urgency.
Kanan readily obliged, stepping forward to follow the captain's command.
Kanan described Hemogoblins as one of the most gruesome maledicts and potent manifestations of immense negative emotions within Elioudra.
Known to be voracious conduits of despair, consuming all life and leaving only a wake of necrotic corruption known as corpse fingers.
According to him, the only known way to effectively destabilize and eradicate such a maledict was if someone possessed a stronger maledict for it to consume the hemogoblin.
Otherwise, a significant number of individuals would need to provide divinity to the poor souls entrapped within the maledict, granting the hundreds of dead their final, ascending rest back to the goddess of Azarette.
The captain confirmed that only the Daughters and Defenders of the Ash were known to possess such omnipotence over a maledict, yet even he was certain a hemogoblin had never manifested within Azarette, at least not in his lifetime.
Based on previous encounters with maledicts, the captain also knew that Royal Squadrons, if gathered in sufficient numbers, could offer fractions of divinity, but completely obliterating a maledict that way took considerable time.
Kanan further explained that in Enmaat, they had learned to hone strategic obliterations of maledicts, adapting their tactics based on the size of the manifestations.
The Scablands of Enmaat, rife with poverty-stricken, malicious, and desperate citizens wandering aimlessly, were known to spawn hemogoblins as often as once a year.
This grim reality, where people's meager lives held little value, had inadvertently allowed its citizens to enhance their abilities, treating the frequent outbreaks as a brutal form of training ground… a place where maledicts truly thrived.
Despite the shame he felt, Kanan still kept his composure, ensuring his tone was solely to inform the captain of what they were dealing with.
Upon hearing this chilling insight from Kanan, the captain proceeded to inform him of what they had accomplished so far since the earthquake struck Aurea Reach yesterday.
According to the captain, they'd already scoured the rubble and gathered all the deflated remnants of Aurea Reach's citizens in a secure tent.
The total body count surpassed three hundred: men, women, and children alike. In a separate location, over five thousand head of livestock: sheep, cows, pigs, and chickens, lay annihilated, a mass grave already dug for their incineration to prevent disease from spreading.
Only just over a hundred residents remained alive, mostly seniors, children, and teenagers who, by sheer fortune, hadn't been assigned farm work the previous day. Two of the last surviving nurses, who hadn't succumbed to the earthquake, now tended to them.
Hearing these grim statistics, Kanan couldn't help but feel a sickening wave of guilt.
He had seen only the thrilling opportunity of slaying a hemogoblin, without truly grasping the sheer, devastating scale of lives lost to fuel such a maledict.
He bit his lip in disgust, his brows furrowing deep. A cold fire flickered in his aquamarine eyes, a spark of anger at the senseless waste.
"We need to form a barrier around the area where the corpse fingers began to form a trail," Kanan urged, his voice sharp with renewed purpose.
"We can't afford any more wandering individuals stumbling upon it and meeting an untimely demise."
The captain immediately ordered two of his foot soldiers to begin placing a protective fence at the trail's grim origin point, where the hemogoblin had manifested.
"Please, don't send them out hastily," Kanan interjected, his voice cutting through just as the soldiers halted.
"Does anyone here know how to purify a devastated land? Do we have a Sister amongst us?" He knew well that only members of the Daughters of the Ash possessed the sacred ability to purify petrified land.
The captain cast his gaze downward, shaking his head slowly from side to side.
"There are none," he admitted, his voice heavy with resignation.
"Not many Daughters of the Ash visit Aurea Reach often. We receive them only once every four full moons to complete a cycle of abundance and offer prayers for the land's nourishment and the people's protection."
The captain tightened his fist, not wanting to disclose such dissonance, hesitated for a moment, before continuing.
"But this valley chose not to have a church, as its farmers worship and praise their harvest far more than the royal Ashriels."
Kanan immediately caught the disdain flickering in the captain's eyes.
For a people in such an ever-religious country, a valley openly rejecting the church must be an unheard-of defiance.
He understood intimately why some communities would choose such a pagan path, much like how Enmaat had completely abandoned its belief in the divine beings whose very breath has given shape to Elioudra.
But now, in their current predicament, that very lack of faith was working against them. He couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh.
He knew, then, he would have to rely solely on his own capabilities in facing the Hemogoblin.
"I'll inspect the trail," Kanan stated, outlining his plan.
"Make sure you see for yourself just how gruesome its trail truly is. I will check from a higher vantage point the track the maledict has taken."
With that, the captain gathered some of his foot soldiers and set off to inspect the scene, first advising Kanan on the suitable high vantage points surrounding the valley.
From one such cliff, Kanan surveyed the devastating pathway the Hemogoblin had carved.
Hmm... Something's not right.
It was incredibly odd that the creature hadn't lingered.
Where the hell is it going?
Its course, he noted, had remained steadfastly southeast since his arrival in Aurea Reach.
He wondered about this peculiar behavior; a Hemogoblin should have devoured the remaining survivors first, not simply moved on.
It was almost as if it was heading southeast with a deliberate purpose. He knew it would most likely converge on a more populated area, and he needed to warn the captain and discover what lay to the southeast.
Returning to the makeshift command post, he saw the captain and his foot soldiers had just arrived back from securing a perimeter around the hemogoblin's spawn point.
They had also managed to warn the valley's remaining people, resting in the other tent. The nurses, too, had been sternly admonished to keep a closer watch on the children and to treat this matter with the utmost gravity.
"Those fingers…" the captain uttered, a perplexed frown creasing his face. He cleared his throat, his gaze landing on Kanan.
"How did it look, the hemogoblin's trail?"
"Everyone here is safe for now," Kanan replied, his searching eyes fixed on the captain.
"But I cannot say the same for whoever lives southeast of this valley. Is there another town nearby? It seems to be drawn to something along that path."
The captain paused, deep in thought for a moment before unfolding a map of Azarette and laying it atop the Aurea Reach layout on the table.
"Here's the map of Azarette, and here we are at the northwest," he explained, guiding Kanan's gaze across the parchment.
"As you can see, southeast from here just slightly avoids the Silvershroud Forest. There are no towns or settlements within that forest."
Kanan looked intently.
Southeast from Aurea Reach appeared to be a border to another country. "Is that the border between Azarette and Ophiyllion?" he asked, a slight perturbation rippling through him.
With a furrowed brow, he now knew the Hemogoblin was acting entirely out of character.
It wouldn't be so bad if its course merely avoided Ashriel, the capital city nestled in Azarette's heart, but he wondered just what lay so compellingly to the southeast.
"Yes, that's the border," the captain affirmed, letting out a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of a moment's relief.
"No settlements along its path if it's trudging in that direction. Glad to know it avoids the capital. It might take it a week, maybe two, to reach the border; I'm sure by then, we could gather additional support from the Defenders of the Ash and Royal Squadrons stationed there."
Relief, as if a great burden had momentarily lifted, washed over him, knowing it wouldn't cause any further devastation within Azarette.
Kanan, however, bristled at the thought of the Defenders getting their hands on the Hemogoblin.
He wanted this maledict for himself. He simply couldn't let such an opportunity slip by. He needed a reason to act, to pursue this maledict, or else he would lose his chance to truly show off.
"What does the forest provide?" Kanan urged, anticipating the captain's response.
"Is it rich in game and wild animals? If so, the Hemogoblin might use that as nourishment and grow even larger."
The captain scratched his chin for a moment.
"Wild animals are abundant. With that aside, there is the fence of the Emberglit Diadem," he said, looking up at Kanan, as if considering that the Hemogoblin might disturb the sacred memorial ground of the fallen Ashriel royals.
"What is that fence… of what?" Kanan's ignorance of Azarette's specifics was apparent on his face.
The captain scratched at the side of his temple and proceeded to explain, also warning him of the Cursed Vein River that flowed around the Silvershroud Forest.
Kanan couldn't help but stare at the map of Azarette while listening to the captain.
It looked vastly different from the maps he'd studied in Enmaat.
The Silvershroud Forest, specifically, appeared as a tear-shaped island at the center-bottom of the entire country.
He wondered if this was merely a coincidence, or if its peculiar shape had been willed by the fallen angel himself. A shiver of unease traced his spine as he considered the pervasive dread emanating from the 'fence' and the Cursed Vein River.
What manner of maledicts might be lurking within that forest, or by that ominous river? He pondered if their presence would make his efforts to obliterate the hemogoblin harder. Or, perhaps, easier.
A cold, dawning horror seized Kanan's features, stealing the color from his face. The captain, witnessing the sudden shift, was visibly stunned.
"What is it, son?!" he demanded, his voice sharp with mounting anxiety, dreading whatever revelation had just struck Kanan.
Kanan's gaze snapped from the map to the captain, his voice now a low, strained whisper, each word weighted with gravity.
"I think... if the hemogoblin reaches that sacred burial ground, it might not just grow larger, Captain. It could consume the very remains of the fallen royals, twisting their sacred essence into something terrifying."
"It would become an entity far more ominous, far more destructive than anything you could imagine. We might not have a week left to waste. Not even a day to simply lie in wait for the Defenders or any other reinforcement to come."
The captain fell silent, deeply considering Kanan's audacious proposal.
He might just be eager for that recommendation, the captain thought, but I can't simply allow an aspirant to face a maledict alone.
After what felt like an eternity, Kanan struggling to keep his composure, the captain finally looked him straight in the eyes.
"I cannot let you face that hemogoblin alone, son. Today, we rest."
His voice turned stern as he reiterated, "At the speed the Hemogoblin is going now, we might still get the reinforcement we need from the capital. By then, we'll have sufficient help."
The captain paused before continuing, "I'm not saying we'll allow it to reach the fence of the Emberglit Diadem," the captain clarified, his tone firm.
"But what I am saying is, we wait for someone who can work with you to purify it while you try your way to obliterate it."
A beat.
"Like you said yourself, you cannot face this alone…"
FUCK! Kanan thought, the expletive a silent roar in his mind.
"Of course," he managed, his composure firmly back in place.
"Thank you for your wisdom and strategic input. My worries might have gotten the better of me; my apologies."
With that, Kanan subtly recalibrated and realigned his burning ambitions.